Founding members are Justin Higgins and Jocelyn Kozlowski. Site
launched March 20, 2011 (the day before Pawlenty announced exploratory
committee).
Bios from the site:
Justin Higgins is currently
attending The Ohio State University
majoring in political science. Justin is a former blogger, Tea Party
activist and College Republican at OSU. He also currently serves as a
member of the Franklin County Republican Party Central Committee.
Justin worked to start Students for Governor Pawlenty because he
believes the Governor is the only candidate who can bring the party
together, sticking to core principles, and also beat President Obama in
2012. As a Buckeye, Justin know that battleground states like Ohio are
necessary to win the Presidency, and believes that Governor Pawlenty is
the only candidate who can carry states like Ohio next year.
Jocelyn Kozlowski - Attended The Florida State University and graduated with a bachelors degree in political science. In April she will graduate with a masters degree from the Applied American Politics and Policy program. In 2008 she was the Florida State ”Noles for McCain” chairwoman and organization campus leader. In 2010 she served as a field representative for the College Republican National Committee in northeast Ohio and currently serves as a constituent aide for Governor John Kasich. Jocelyn will work hard to unite the voices of young conservatives behind a candidate who will unite the country as one and get America back on track.
Ed. Notes
>As of April 26, 2011 the site showed 15 state chairs around the
country.
AZ: Joshua Hoyt has attended Arizona State University for the past few years pursuing pre-med and pre-law degrees. Hoyt calls activism and political involvement “the highlight” of his collegiate career. The founding of College Republicans at ASU-Poly, working for Governor Jan Brewer and engaging in national politics are experiences which have guided and directed his future.
Hoyt believes Governor Pawlenty is the “only candidate for President who combines Reagan-esque leadership capabilities with a proven
CA: Emily Schrader - Emily
is a junior political science major at the University of Southern
California. She has been involved with College Republicans since her
freshman year and is the current Deputy Los Angeles Vice Chair for
California College Republicans. She also served as the PR Director for
USC College Republicans. Emily worked on the Meg Whitman Campaign for
Governor and also served as the Communications Director for Students
for Carly Fiorina in 2010. She is also involved in Trojans For Israel
and is President of USC Christians United For Israel.
CO: Troy Ard is the State
Chairman of the College Republicans of Colorado.
By the time he was 15 he was the State Chairman of Colorado Teenage
Republicans. By 2006 he was hired as the Field Director of the
Republican Party in one of the strongest Democrat controlled areas of
Colorado. From there he became Vice Chairman of his local Republican
Party and a State Party member focusing on increasing organizational
capabilities and public relations. In the 2008 campaign he served as
the Campaign Director for, now congressman, Scott Tipton focusing on
inventive strategy and collaborative efforts between campaigns. After
the 2008 election cycle ended, he was appointed as Communications
Director of Colorado CRs until his unanimous election as State Chairman
in April 2010.
CT: Harry Gaver - Harry is currently attending Yale University, where he plans on majoring in both Classics and History. On campus, he is involved in a number of conservative causes, such as the Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union and the newly founded William F Buckley Speakers Program.
His greatest intellectual influences include James Madison, Milton Friedman, and the Wall Street Journal. He supports Governor Pawlenty because being the best-qualified candidate should mean something.
Harry was born and raised in New York City.
FL: Jonathon Little - Jonathon is a senior political science major at the University of Central Florida. He spent the 2010 election cycle working on State Representative Dean Cannon’s reelection campaign as well as volunteering on several other key races. He currently works in the legislative office of Representative Eric Eisnaugle.
In December of 2010 Jonathon was elected as Chairman of UCF College Republicans, the chapter that recorded more volunteer hours during the 2010 election than any other in the country. He feels that Tim Pawlenty is the only choice that can unite the party in 2012 and win back the White House.
MI: Gustavo “Gus” Portela is
a native of Puerto Rico and has been active in
politics since his sophomore year in high school volunteering for Bush
in 04, and then moving forward to volunteer for Dick DeVos’
gubernatorial campaign in 2006. It was through those two cycles that
Gus realized his interest in getting more involved doing grassroots
work. He immediately became involved in College Republicans and rose
through the ranks on his way to becoming the first Hispanic Chairman of
the Michigan Federation of College Republicans...
Gus enthusiastically supports Governor Tim Pawlenty for President and has been a big fan of the Governor for years, citing Governor Pawlenty’s middle class upbringing for being one of the many reasons to support his candidacy for President as well as his conservative stances on his main issues of concern.
MN: Tyler Verry is currently pursing his Political Science/management undergrad as a senior at the University of Minnesota. Along with school, Tyler presides as the state chair for the Minnesota College Republicans, uniting the chapters all across the state and supporting the local candidates; notably he was the forerunner in organizing volunteers for the Duluth republican candidate for district 8 and retiring the thirty-eight year DFL incumbent candidate in the most recent elections. He stays busy with his job as the Executive Director for the Minnesota Academy for General Dentistry, helping general dentists in earning credit for their continuing education courses as well as acting as the voice for general dentists in the legislature.
NV: Katie Fortuna, from
Reno, NV, is currently a sophomore at the
University of Nevada, Reno. She is working on a Psychology major, and
plans on going into Music Therapy. She is currently President of
the UNR College Republicans, and
Vice-Chair of the newly formed Nevada Federation of College
Republicans. She has been a dedicated volunteer for the Nevada
Republican party, making countless phone calls and knocking on many
doors to get Republicans elected in all aspects of Government. She
helped re-elect congressman Dean Heller, defeated a Reid in the Nevada
Gubernatorial election, and worked tirelessly to help keep Nevada Red.
NY: Sandra Amidon is currently a senior studying Finance and Political Science at SUNY Brockport. She owes her love of politics to her older brother, who exposed her to the campaign trail where she began to feel the need to make a difference. Being politically active across the state has been her priority. She became Vice Chair of the SUNY Brockport College Republican Chapter before being elected Co-Chairwoman of her State Federation in 2009.
In June 2009, Sandra became the Chairwoman of NYCRSC and since then has been working diligently to expand the New York College Republicans’ presence throughout the state.
ND: Nicole Bredahl is a soon to be graduate of the University of North Dakota and will be attending law school this fall. She is currently Vice-Chair of the North Dakota College Republicans and is very involved in politics across the state of North Dakota. She was a key grassroots coordinator for six legislative districts during the 2010 election cycle.
Nicole is excited to recruit students to help Governor Pawlenty with
his candidacy, and excited to bring young people from North Dakota
on-board to help the one candidate who can unite the entire Republican
Party in 2012.
OH: Joe Manno is currently a senior at The University of Akron as an Economics major, graduating this spring. He served as chair of The College Republicans at that university for two years, and brought the organization to new heights. As chair, he oversaw his chapter invest over 250 volunteer hours on 2009 races, over 30,000 voter contacts made in the 2010 election, and led the chapter to the 2010 Ohio College Federation chapter of the year award. Other political experience includes being the Vice President of the Green H.S. Teenage Republicans.
Joe plans to work hard to deliver the Buckeye State’s college vote
for T-Paw.
PA: James Tuttle is a media studies student at Penn State. He always has an intense interest in very few subject. In February of 2008, politics became his intense interest. Even though James grew up conservative, he finally understood conservatism after taking economics class and listening to conservative news talk. He has been heavily involved in campaigns since the fall of 2009.
James met Tim Pawlenty in the February of 2009 and the February of 2011.
TX: Katie Thompson is a
junior English Writing and Rhetoric major at St.
Edward’s University. In the summer of 2010 she became the Social Media
Director of Texas College Republicans and created a consistent, active
online presence for the organization. She is also the founding chair of
her College Republicans chapter, a contributor to The New Texas
Forum, a volunteer lobbyist for Texas Students for Concealed Carry
on Campus, and a member of Innovate CRNC’s Technology Committee.
Katie is excited to support a leader with a solid record as a
consistent conservative, and she is confident that Governor Pawlenty
can put America back on track.
WV: Aaron Kidd - Aaron is the Chairman of the West Virginia Federation of College Republicans. He is an sophomore majoring in economics at Marshall University. He was Chairman of the Hurricane High School Teenage Republican club, and led them to become the 2008-2009 Outstanding Club in the Nation at the national TARS conference in Washington, DC. He attends Kings River Worship Center in St. Albans, WV. He plans to attend law school after college.
He believes Tim Pawlenty is the conservative candidate to beat Barack Obama in 2012.
WI: Blake Gober - As a United States Marine Blake has had the privilege of traveling all across the United States and the globe. This set of experience has given him the innate ability to communicate with people of all walks of life. Currently, Blake is the Public Relations Officer of the Republican Party in Dane County WI. Dane County is one of the most liberal counties in the United States, however, Blake has been able to earn the respect and appreciation of the liberal media of the greater Madison area. Blake has worked on literally dozens of campaigns throughout the United States including Scott Walker for Governor, Ron Johnson for United States Senate, and the Justice David Prosser for Reelection campaign.
